baby picture thread!!!

[20DYNAMITE07]

Meanwhile, in Australia...


DSC_0039 by scottybell1313, on Flickr



DSC_0013 by scottybell1313, on Flickr

[XstartXtodayX]

Meanwhile, in Australia...

I just saw that on flickr and wanted to come up with a funny caption, but now I'm not going to b/c I can't top yours Looks like he's having a blast.

[XstartXtodayX]

We had a little photo shoot on the bed last night

[iamhollybear]

Yayyy sitting up!!!

[XstartXtodayX]

Yayyy sitting up!!!

yea she can hold herself up after we prop her there for anywhere between a couple seconds to a few minutes now, I guess it all depends on the surface she's sitting on and how tired she is. Still waiting for her to sit up on her own. These shots were a little tricky, I was kneeling on the bed with the camera in my right hand (which weighs at least 5 lbs with the wide angle lens and battery grip) and a flash in my left hand while my wife propped her up then quickly got out of the shot, it was harder than it sounds b/c then I had to get Zoey to look up at me (which means I need to take my face away from the camera) then get my eye back to the eye piece, line up the focus point and fire while hoping she hasn't moved yet... needless to say this took a ton of attempts with plenty of throw away shots in the end it was all worth it.

[iamhollybear]

I could only imagine.. I only have a little crappy point and shoot camera and it was hard enough to get a picture when he first started to get the hang of it.. He still wont pull himself up though, I'm not sure how to encourage him to do so..

[20DYNAMITE07]

We had a little photo shoot on the bed last night

dear God that's adorable! I love her face! She's so expressive!

[SHUMopper]

Jon, is Zoey closer to 6 months or 5? London can sit up if i prop her up, but she cant sit up on her own from lying down. She is getting better without having anything keeping her stable behind her, but still not quite there yet. She is getting daring though, i think she is so proud of her rollover abilities that she just gung ho's it in the crib without considering how close she is to the crib rail. Never winds up good for her. lol

[iamhollybear]

This is mainly directed at xstartxtodayx since your pictures always come out amazing(I've been looking through the photography forum as well ).. I have my friends camera today and have been trying without success to get pictures that look at least half as good as yours.. Most so far have been sad attempts to get both of us in a shot, and when he wakes up from his nap I'm going to concentrate on just him, but do you have any tidbits of advice(besides my obvious lack of lighting issues)??



Also, he is clearly more interested in the camera than his mommy. & I had to wayyy over edit this one just to get it to where we are visible instead of black blobs..

[20DYNAMITE07]

Holly-

That's a cute shot. xstartxtodayx has mad skills (check his flickr) and I'm sure he'll give you some great advice... but if he isn't back before that q-t-pie wakes up let me make a few suggestions...

In the shot you posted above, you're back lit which is why you guys came out too dark. If you can, take the shot with the light coming from the side or behind the photographer.

If the camera you are using has an external flash (not the one that is built in to the camera) try aiming it at the ceiling and bouncing the light. It will diffuse the light and will make your subject plenty bright without throwing harsh shadows.

A simple background helps too... so if you have a white sheet that you can put your baby on or sit him in front of will help make for nice shot too.

Last but not least... xstartxtodayx has some serious post production skills with photoshop so he can adjust the white balance of his shots and color saturation, etc. That makes a big difference too, so don't feel bad if your shots don't come out like his

Keep shooting!!!!!! And have fun

[20DYNAMITE07]

We took Oskar to Butler's Orchard and went berry picking... what a blast! Oskar tasted his first Raspberry and blackberry. I'm not sure, but I think he was a fan.


DSC_0068 by scottybell1313, on Flickr

[XstartXtodayX]

Holly-

That's a cute shot. xstartxtodayx has mad skills (check his flickr) and I'm sure he'll give you some great advice... but if he isn't back before that q-t-pie wakes up let me make a few suggestions...

In the shot you posted above, you're back lit which is why you guys came out too dark. If you can, take the shot with the light coming from the side or behind the photographer.

If the camera you are using has an external flash (not the one that is built in to the camera) try aiming it at the ceiling and bouncing the light. It will diffuse the light and will make your subject plenty bright without throwing harsh shadows.

A simple background helps too... so if you have a white sheet that you can put your baby on or sit him in front of will help make for nice shot too.

Last but not least... xstartxtodayx has some serious post production skills with photoshop so he can adjust the white balance of his shots and color saturation, etc. That makes a big difference too, so don't feel bad if your shots don't come out like his

Keep shooting!!!!!! And have fun

All great points except I don't know about me having mad PP skills I'm pretty good with LR3 but that's it, I can't even figure out how to do open a file when it comes to photo shop (I have elements but haven't ever used it b/c I have no clue where to even start, I've been spoiled by how simple lightroom is).

Holly, I can't tell from the shot what the settings and camera was since the exif is missing but it looks like the iso was kind of high causing some graininess, without a flash it is tough to get enough light and focus with a decent shutter speed. If you must use the on camera flash try to diffuse it; even folding up a tissue a couple of times and wrapping it around the pop up flash will make a world of difference by softening the flash, this way you can get a slightly faster shutter speed and use a little lower iso (not sure what camera you were using but somewhere around 400 and under is a safe iso, also try to get an aperture of f/4-f/5.6 to keep the both of you in focus). Lastly, I'll admit I stink at self portrait type shots b/c I can never get the camera to focus properly, your shot is better than any self type shot I've taken.

[iamhollybear]

Thanks for the help fellas!!! My boyfriend tried to explain to me what you meant by iso and everything else.. I think I figured it out.. I was shooting with a Canon Rebel XS and the iso was at like 1400?? 1600?? Something really high.. So I found a new spot with better light, turned it down, put on the 50mm lens, and went back at it today Maybe by tomorrow I'll have them ready(I'm going to make a flickr).. Some of them turned out REALLY good!!!

[20DYNAMITE07]

Thanks for the help fellas!!! My boyfriend tried to explain to me what you meant by iso and everything else.. I think I figured it out.. I was shooting with a Canon Rebel XS and the iso was at like 1400?? 1600?? Something really high.. So I found a new spot with better light, turned it down, put on the 50mm lens, and went back at it today Maybe by tomorrow I'll have them ready(I'm going to make a flickr).. Some of them turned out REALLY good!!!

WOOT!

The 50mm f/1.8 is a GREAT lens for photographing people! Can't wait to see them

[XstartXtodayX]

WOOT!

The 50mm f/1.8 is a GREAT lens for photographing people! Can't wait to see them

x2

Here's one from the other day of Zoey hugging our Maine Coon Lucy. Zoey loves our cats (we have 2 Maine Coons, Lucy is the more needy one so she's always around us), she gets so excited when we put her near Lucy that she smiles and makes all sorts of noises while trying to pet (grab/pull?) Lucy's fur. Lucy usually leaves right away but lately she's been putting up with more and more; on this occasion we sat Zoey near Lucy and next thing you know Zoey had lunged towards Lucy and hugged her Lucy just sat there for a few moments which was long enough for my wife to grab my camera from the next room and for me to snap 3-4 shots, luckily 1 came out and caught Zoey's expression of happiness

[20DYNAMITE07]

^^^ ha! Oskar loves our cats too

Our oldest cat, Bubba, totally puts up with him. Bubba is 17 years old and really seems to like Oskar. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten any good shots of the two of them yet.

The Kittah in question

DSC_0061 by scottybell1313, on Flickr

[iamhollybear]

So I have only edited these 3 so far(they are up there in my favorites so I wanted to see if I could figure out photoshop with them).. I may have over edited? I don't know.. Anywho, its funny you guys posted baby/pet pictures because one of my favorites was the baby and pet!!





(Be honest with opinions please, I'm trying to learn )

[XstartXtodayX]

I remember Bubba now from back when all I would shoot were kittehs, now they hardly ever get photographed (i think they might resent Zoey for stealing the camera's attention).

Holly, he's adorable and those shots look great. Technically speaking now... #2 is my favorite by far, you had good lighting and it looks like you nailed the focus on his eyes, the composition is great (rule of 3rds in full effect, his face/eyes is right one the right 3rd dividing line) and the depth of field is nice clearly showing he is the subject and not the dog (but the dog is awesome in there, with him blurred it has that sense of motion so we clearly know he's slurping those little feet ), the only thing I would have done differently is use a slightly lower aperture (exif shows f/11 was used, I tend to stay at or below f/5.6, this will also increase the shutter speed and make it easier to hand hold while increasing your chances of catching a moving baby ). #1 gets points for capturing the moment and all of that happiness but from a technical standpoint the focus is off, looks like his robe was in focus instead of his eyes, the lighting looks really good once again though. I also love #3, shots like this are adorable and I like that contrast from the bright light on top of the frame... I like the shot as is but am curious what a b&w conversion would look like.

[AxEgRyNdEr]

Nate turned 3 weeks on Monday


Nate3Weeksweb by sbg198, on Flickr

[iamhollybear]

You know I didn't even notice the first one was off focus well until you mentioned it of course.. I guess I got caught up in the happy face.. Also I'm not sure what a aperture is or how in the world you would know what I used ahah but I can figure that out, thank you for the advice I finished up the rest of the pictures and made myself a little flickr account to start putting everything in one place.. I just want to show off a few more pictures lol, hey I started the thread I'll post 40 huge pics if I wanna






Okay, I'm done for now I swear ahah. I think if you click on the pictures it takes you to the flickr I made??? There's super cute doggy pictures to but I didn't feel right posting them in here.. Again, advice is much appreciated!!

[XstartXtodayX]

Nate turned 3 weeks on Monday

Very cute... enjoy this time, they grow so quick (I never paid much attention when others said that but after recently looking back on shots of Zoey it really hit me how much she has grown in such a short time).

Holly, those shots are all adorable I love shots like 2 and 4, those precious little details and moments. The 3rd shot has a nice cinematic feel to it, I love the way his eyes are looking up like that.

now for a few of Zoey

[iamhollybear]

Such a cute little pout lol made me smile

[20DYNAMITE07]

Great stuff as always Jon!

Holly- I'm totally stoked to see you getting excited about photography! There's a lot to lean but the good news is that it's easier than you think.

Aperture refers to a function of the lens. Inside the lens are a bunch of blades that open up and control the amount of light then gets to the sensor or film. When you have a large (think wide open) aperture, more light can get in and that means you can take photo's at faster shutter rates. Wide open apertures also give you that cool partial out of focus effect (Bokeh), where part of the image is sharp and the rest is fuzzy.

When you have a small aperture (think pin hole) less light can get in. That means it takes a longer shutter speed to expose your image. The advantage of a small aperture is that more of your image is in focus. This is great for landscapes and stuff.



You can tell what aperture you have by the "f-stop" you are using. On the side of your lens you will see something like f/1.8 or maybe f/ 3.5 - 5.whatever this is telling you the maximum aperture of your lens.

On the 50mm prime you are using, it can open all the way up to f/1.8. That's really wide open. So you can take shots in lower light, or at really fast shutter speeds because so much light is getting in.

To learn more check this out... http://www.tutorial9.net/photography...graphy-basics/

One last thing... you can manually set your aperture when you shoot. It's really easy to do. On top of your camera you will see a wheel with the letters P A S M and a bunch of symbols. They stand for Partial, Aperture, Shutter, Manual...etc.

You can shoot in Aperture mode and the camera will take care of all of the other settings. Just move the wheel on top of your camera to the "A" setting. Now you can adjust the aperture by spinning the wheel by your thumb.

Experiment and have fun! (sorry for the wall of text )

[20DYNAMITE07]

Nate turned 3 weeks on Monday


Nate3Weeksweb by sbg198, on Flickr

Freak'n adorable dude!

[AxEgRyNdEr]

Freak'n adorable dude!

Thanks man, here's another


Nate3Weeks2 by sbg198, on Flickr

[XstartXtodayX]

just adorable... babies in stripes are a match made in heaven do those mittens actually work for you? We had them and gave up on them after the first night b/c our daughter would get them off within 5 minutes luckily we were able to keep her nails pretty short and she didn't scratch herself too bad or too often.

[AxEgRyNdEr]

just adorable... babies in stripes are a match made in heaven do those mittens actually work for you? We had them and gave up on them after the first night b/c our daughter would get them off within 5 minutes luckily we were able to keep her nails pretty short and she didn't scratch herself too bad or too often.

The ones we have are a bit difficult to get on but fit snug around his wrist. So far he hasn't gotten them off. His socks on the other hand always get kicked off.

[iamhollybear]

Aperture refers to a function of the lens.

This post was so helpful!!! I'm looking through that tutorial and then I think Brayden is going to have to suffer through more pictures with me

The ones we have are a bit difficult to get on but fit snug around his wrist. So far he hasn't gotten them off. His socks on the other hand always get kicked off.

Those mittens look like the ones we had for Brayden! Another set had little cars and stuff on them.. He loved them and would suck on them.. Enjoy the mitten days where he won't scratch your face and pull your hair..

[20DYNAMITE07]

A few more from Butler Orchard... we went back today and had some more fun



DSC_0021-2 by scottybell1313, on Flickr



DSC_0027 by scottybell1313, on Flickr

[SHUMopper]

London relaxing in her stroller.

[XstartXtodayX]

loving the black and white shots you two

Holly, I forgot to answer you when you were wondering how we could know what your camera was set at... in every image you shoot there's data that gets saved with the image called exif data, in there it stores a ton of info such as camera used, focal length, aperture, shutter speed, iso, shooting mode, white balance, date, time, etc etc etc it really goes into depth. There are ways to view that exif to see what the photo was shot at, on Flickr under the "actions" tab there is a choice to view exif info (if it is available, some people hide it and some lose it when they edit their photos). I have an add-on for Firefox that allows me to right click on any photo posted and view exif (if available), it is really handy b/c when I see a photo I like I can go check how it was shot and then next time I'm shooting something similar I try to remember those settings and adjust accordingly in an attempt to better my shot. I hope that all made sense

[VegasJetta]

You guys and your cameras... I don't have the patience for that! I don't even use my Canon P&S anymore, since my iPhone is always near me.


With mommy


Flying baby!

[20DYNAMITE07]

Omg win ^^^

[XstartXtodayX]

Omg win ^^^

x2, that last one with the little curl of hair sticking up is awesome.

You guys and your cameras... I don't have the patience for that! I don't even use my Canon P&S anymore, since my iPhone is always near me.

Nothing wrong with that... Chase Jarvis, a professional photographer, actually made a book shot entirely with his iphone, he titled it "the best camera is the one that's with you" and that is 100% true
http://www.thebestcamera.com/book.html

I did a little photo shoot with Zoey this past Sunday out at the in-laws house, they have a nice large backyard so we laid a blanket down and let her lay there in the shade while I lay on the bare grass to get the shot

[SHUMopper]

love Zoey's pictures! She was made for the camera Jon!

here is my chubba taking a bath.